Video summary
The video "Panorama" follows the journey of Aono, a director and filmmaker who explores the struggles of an elderly film lab technician navigating the modern digital age. The narrative centers on the tension between analog photography and instant digital technology, using this contrast as a metaphor for the protagonist's internal conflict regarding his own talents versus those of other artists. Aono draws from his personal experiences as a student in a competitive environment, where feeling overshadowed by more talented peers led to creative burnout during the pandemic. Through the character of Lola Magno, an older man who observes life through a lens that feels isolated from everyone else, the film examines themes of self-doubt, the turbulence of finding one's place in the industry, and the difficulty of coexisting with others while maintaining one's own artistic identity.
Production challenges played a significant role in shaping the film's aesthetic and narrative direction, particularly given the constraints of shooting on a tight budget with limited space. Although the story is set in an analog world, the crew had to emulate the look of celluloid using digital cameras, requiring extensive collaboration with cinematographer Sir Arens Janella to adjust grain, halation, and overall tone without overwhelming the audience or distracting from the dialogue. The single-location setting was chosen to reflect the confined, boxed-in world of the main character, but this decision created logistical hurdles for camera movement, production design, and actor blocking. Despite these obstacles, the team maintained a highly collaborative environment where actors like Sir Rolando and Sir Page contributed significantly to character development, helping to balance their usual comedic or theatrical styles with the film's restrained, slow-burn atmosphere.
Beyond the technical aspects, the director emphasizes the importance of resilience and starting early in one's filmmaking journey, regardless of available resources. Aono advises younger filmmakers to begin with whatever equipment and friends they have, noting that the process of making mistakes and learning is where true style and vision are honed. He reflects on his own hesitation to pursue a director role due to the intense competition and self-doubt prevalent in the industry, but found confidence once he began writing and developing ideas for his capstone project. The film ultimately serves as a reflection on change, accepting uncertainty, and the realization that there is always a space for art to exist even when facing overwhelming odds or rapid technological shifts.
In conclusion, "Panorama" is not just a story about an aging technician but a deeply personal exploration of identity, adaptation, and the human condition within the creative arts. By blending real film stock references with digital emulation, the production honors the primitive yet enduring nature of analog photography while acknowledging its struggle against convenience and speed. The director's message extends to all aspiring artists, encouraging them to embrace their current circumstances, communicate openly with their collaborators, and persist through periods of turbulence. Ultimately, the film suggests that finding oneself is a continuous process of self-reflection and that even in a world dominated by digital immediacy, there remains value in patience, tradition, and the quiet observation of life through a different lens.
Read the full video transcript
Heat. Heat.
[music]
>> [music]
[music]
>> Aono, director, writer and editor of
Panorama. panorama follow elderly lab
technician that struggles in the digital
age of technology and he handles a film
lab business in that age for me um
naturally gravity narrative because I
feel like that's my strength as a
filmmaker I'm open to exploring
different um styles as well like
experimental and other types of genres
but personally it just made sense to
choose narrative because I've been
watching a lot of narrative films as
well and I wanted to focus on trying to
better my craft in the narrative genre.
So for the messaging of my film, it
actually started with um my experiences
as a college student in film making
because I feel like it was so daunting
to be alongside talented artists as well
who feel like uh they have a step above
the rest and coming from like a small
town in Lagona, I feel like moving out
towards the city and seeing the amount
of talent that's there, I wanted to
tackle that in my capstone project.
That's how panorama started as I was
looking through some prompts in my past
writing projects. I stumbled upon this
one line that explored um an old man or
a film lab technician who has customers
coming in and seeing their lives through
a different lens, a very isolated lens
from everyone else. So in that sense in
the film in the context of the film it's
the analog photography art medium
against the current digital technology
with digi cams against analog and diso
and the paralisms with that is um my
talents with other people's talents and
I feel like um that brings about
self-doubt as me as filmmaker finding my
place here because there are a lot of
many talented artists in my space and it
caused a lot of creative burnouts
especially during the pandemic where I
felt like people had a lot of a big head
start and I think if analog photography
was a person that's what it would have
felt like it was a notch above the rest
and there's no way it could keep up with
the conveniences of digital photography
because everything is instant everything
um you take a picture in 1 second you
already have it well compared s analog
it takes time it takes a lot of patience
and it's still a primitive art medium.
But in a certain period of time around
the 2015 year, people naturally came
back to it and discover town that there
is a place for it. And that goes with um
my personal experiences as an artist
even though there is always a way for
your art to find a place. There's always
a way to coexist with these talented
individuals. It's the matter of finding
yourself in that. And there are a lot of
like underlying themes of Panorama, but
that's the main one. But there's also a
talk of of the theme of change um going
against change and through the other
characters um accepting change and
whatnot. So yeah, I also wanted to talk
about like um tackling the the
turbulence that you go through in your
20ies. And it actually doesn't matter on
your age bracket what and whatnot as
portrayed by my main character. Even
with that, as someone who has a lot of
wisdom, who has a lot of experiences
under his belt, he still has a lot of
uncertainties when it comes to his life.
And there's kind of like my reflection,
self-reflections that I embedded on this
character. I really wanted to shoot this
in film. And honestly that's the dream
per in terms of feasibility as well. Um
it it wasn't possible during the time
considering this is like a student film
production but um we wanted to keep
faithful as much as we can from the
artistic direction from the color
grading to the cinematography. Even if
it was using digital cameras, we wanted
to emulate film as much as we can given
the budget and constraints at the time.
But with that, we did use real film and
referenced a lot of film labs around the
area around Makati and around some
connections that I have with the film
lab industry. So in terms of my actors
and trying to um explain my vision
towards um the characterizations of
each, I'm working alongside really
talented um actors and coming from just
from nowhere as a film student, it was
kind of daunting to see how I would
approach this. But we did a lot of
extensive workshopping and um meetings
and in regards to discussing character
and inspirations and whatnot. They're
really talented. So they really caught
on and gave a lot of suggestions. It was
a very collaborative space where any
idea was actually pretty up for debate.
And as a director, I'm not really
opposed to things like that. if there's
someone that wants to bring something
unique to the table that I did not
foresee because for example my character
Lo Magno in the earlier stages of his
character he was very malleable in my
screenplay so when Sir Rolando in um
grace the role we had a lot of talks on
how he would characterize the overall
nuances of Lola Magnos so it was a lot
of collaboration for example my other
actor sir page he was Vincent and
Pahara. He was also keen on asking for
inspirations on movies and whatnot and
the overall tone because I feel like
comparing their filmography to the
certain um aspect of what Panorama came
to be, it's more of a slow burn and it's
very restrained compared to what they
usually do. Uh, for example, S Orlando
does a lot of theater and comedies and
telles areas and the switch up was kind
of hard to balance, but overall we were
trying to figure out how to push and
pull between um expressions and whatnot.
For the most part, it was just really
about constant communication and
practicing and rehearsals. In regards to
the cinematography, there was a lot of
discussion in developing this. As I said
before, we really wanted to capture the
essence of film and celluloid, but um we
are filming in a digital camera. So that
made for a lot of obstacles to try to
replicate it as onetoone as we can. So I
actually had my callerist Sir Arens
Janella and he actually owns South Lab
which makes perfect sense for him to
jump into the production and he we were
talking a lot on how we're going to um
dial in the look because if we push the
film look too much it might be hard to
um take in as an audience because maybe
it's too stylistic because I didn't want
it to take away from the overall
dialogues and the whole mood and tone.
of the film. So, there was a lot of talk
about that and um adjusting the film
grain, adjusting the hellation,
adjusting all of these hallmarks of what
makes the film look real. And in regards
to my cinematographer, there was a lot
of challenges when it came to panorama
because for our location, it's just one
location and it's very cramped. And
considering the uh technical
requirements of our camera department,
they were pretty bulky and there was a
lot of talks with my cinematographer and
how we would adjust and how would we um
film certain angles and ultimately there
were some shots that were um reframed
for the sake of getting the story across
and those were things that um even if in
practice we um planned for it in
actuality
also made it difficult because there was
a lot of aspects that came into play
that we did not foresee during
production. But yeah, it was a lot of um
dialing in the looks and whatnot because
yeah, the film look is very specific and
if I don't capture that, I don't think I
do this film justice. So, the main
challenge was the space. Personally, I
really just wanted it to be one small
compact space because it also reflected
with the small boxed in world of Lola
Magno. And I think it was a perfect
representation of his character. But
early on, we already knew that these
problems were going to go into play in
terms of actors blockings,
cinematography,
production design as well to make it
feel like it's lived in whilst
maintaining um space for the camera
department for production design
assistants to come in and help out and
whatnot or even the assistant director
um maneuvering through the scene and
helping out. There were a lot of
challenges and I think that was the main
one that we encountered and it there
were a lot of things also that we didn't
foresee such as the temperature that was
one thing that became um one thing that
we really didn't think about but
ultimately affected the whole production
those are things that we didn't foresee
but aside from that also the main
challenges that I encountered is as a
director trying to keep the vision
intact while collaborating with other
departments because this is my first
time in trying to have a hand at a
bigger production compared to like the
usual short films that I've worked on as
a student. So that was pretty daunting
and of course I really want to respect
their decisions and whatnot and I have
to also learn to accept that and see
where I can take that direction and
still align it to the overall vision
that was in play from the start. So for
me what I would advise my uh fellow
filmmakers especially in the younger
generation is that just start honestly
you can just start with whatever you
have. I it sounds super cliche. I think
every person from the film industry says
it to start whatever with with whatever
they have, but it's true because that's
where you learn and try to hone in your
style as a director. Um trying to figure
out what cameras you should use, what
acting um capabilities do you look for
in terms of aligning it with your
screenplay. It's just starting. And that
was kind of my mindset when coming into
this film because just for context in
past short film projects, I normally
take the back seat. I don't really um
push for getting a director role and
whatnot because yeah, as I said, um the
competition around the batch is very
very um difficult to wrap your mind
around and it really questions your
ability as a filmmaker. It's not
necessarily in in terms of aggression or
whatever. It's just more of like
doubting yourself in your place in the
industry. I think it's really just on
once I got there and started um writing
the script and eventually developing the
ideas around it um it kind of you you
get a feel for what needs to be chosen
for certain artistic uh choices that
will best serve the story. So definitely
if you are just starting out as a
filmmaker, grab um whatever equipment
and friends that you have and as much as
possible start early because um if you
have the um leeway and the the time to
create your short films or whatnot, it's
the the best time is now because once
you um keep on practicing and whatnot,
you get to filter out what you like and
what you don't like when it comes to
approaching more films. So yeah,
definitely the best place to start is
from whatever you got.
>> [music]
>> Ready
to say
Fore!
Foreign! Foreign!
Hello.
Fore!
Fore!chch!
for
Memory card.
Ed memory
Memory card.
Foreign
speech. Foreign speech.
And then happen po.
Um, may tulo po.
Memory card
or black and white.
>> Colored
135.
135
ano size 3 R, 4R,
5 R
135.
270 and kasama painting. 270
Hey,
I'm sorry.
TLR Malian
10 million
[snorts]
ice
martes.
Salamat.
That
Korea
develop. May
Okay.
Salamat
cell phone
826. Chemicals
sir.
for
Roy.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Say
270. Okay.
Congrats.
Oh, what?
But nice develop
Roy.
for
negative
pictures.
270
and January negative. people
270.
Yung camera.
>> [laughter]
>> Hey Andy.
Sebast
4K
1K. Fore!
Foreign! Foreign!
Papa develop
sir.
Sal.
[snorts]
ache.
Okay.
Salang
salmise.
Fore you
Hallelujah.
[music]
Heat. Heat.
[music]
Heat. Heat.
[music]
Heat.
[music]
Heat. [music]
>> [music]
>> Heat up [music]
here.
[music]
Yeah.
Heat. [music]